Hi friends,
Due to the travel reviews that are coming up at a speed faster than Jet Airways, I may have missed some of your lovely reviews. Please accept my apologies for that. For those who will miss out this review, I accept yours :-)
So now let me get to the question which may be tinkering in the minds of many - Why did aLi watch Fanaa? Well, I was to an extent, forced to, by friends. And I am glad I was! For, not only was the movie much above my expectations, some sweet incidents occurred with me in the hall (I’ll relate that to you later!) which I’ll cherish throughout my life.
As a matter of fact, I can go on and on about the sweet memories, but as I have to begin the review somewhere, there can’t be a better way to begin it with the storyline of the movie itself!
Zooni Ali Beg (Kajol) plays a blind girl, who is to go to Delhi to perform a show on the 26th of January, and while she cannot see, her parents (Rishi Kapoor & Kirron Kher) make sure that their daughter-dear is entrusted to the company of her reliable friends comprising of TV actress Gautami Gadgill, Shruti Seth and the likes.
Once at the Capital, she meets the local tourist guide Rehan (Aamir Khan) whose introduction with the shayaris is applauded by cheers and ceetees. Our Zooni falls for him, notwithstanding the warnings given to her by Shruti that Rehan is a flirt, doesn’t believe in God and is not serious about him. Jump: pre-interval. After making out with Kajol, Aamir has a change of heart and he falls for him. But not before the terrorist in him awakens and he leaves his supposed-to-be-sweetheart !
Jump: Post-interval. The initial 15 minutes follows a new path, taking you into a territory Yashraj is afraid of entering - terrorism. You feel that this love story is not as simple as it appears, and something strange and exciting is in store for you. And let me tell you, you aren’t wrong. For a banner like this one, making a film like Fanaa is a big step forward. A few deaths later, _____ (Aamir/Rishi) is killed by _____ (Kajol/Tabu).
What I liked about the movie?
More than the movie, I liked a few situations that happened with me while watching the movie.
Basically I had this not-breathtakingly-beautiful-but-would-do kind of a girl sitting just next to me! I had firmly placed my hand on the stand of the seat I was sitting on. Not knowing this, the girl placed her hands on mine, and quickly reacted - I’m so sorry! On the screen followed - Subhan allah subhan allah...
Then after a while, her cell phone rang and she left the place for a moment. While she was leaving, followed in the background - Aaaaa maulaa aaaaaa
Finally she came back. Then 10-15 minutes later, while she was upto some crazy thing, she moves her hand in a frantic gesture which swayed my face. Background music followed - Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam...
What I liked about the movie? - II
Ok I’ll come back to the movie now. The first hour of Fanaa is akin to watching a typical Yashraj movie with love, romance, songs and more songs. While I yawned when Kajol waited for Aamir, I was looking elsewhere when Aamir left her. The hero then taking the dulhania bored me a great deal! It was only when Kajol re-gained her sight did the film appeal and make its presence felt!
The second half, contrary to the popular belief, is much better than the first, and the drama that takes place looks real and not artificial. Yes, the story is a bit stretched after Aamir lands up at Kajol’s residence (this is one cinematic liberty), but the events that occurs are intriguing. Or perhaps, as I saw the film on the fifth day, a few unnecessary scenes may have been deleted!
Apart from the secong half, what makes Fanaa stand apart is the brilliant execution of the subject by Kohli. As a former film-critic, he makes sure that boredom never sets in, not atleast in the second half, where the actual drama takes place. Just as things get a bit serious, the song ’Chanda Chamke’, showing Kajol and Rehan (Jr. & Sr.) living happily comes as a welcome relief. Then, he is also entrusted with the responsibility of making sure that the movie doesn’t lose sheen anywhere in between. For this, he uses the Anti-terrorist funda to his advantage!
As a director, Kohli takes giant leaps after HUM TUM. He understands the subject with immense maturity, and handles the film with utmost care.
However, I feel that Fanaa would have been an altogether different story if it had outstanding music and fresh faces. But that doesn’t take away from Aamir Khan his outstanding performance. A theory says that Aamir never plays a role, he lives it, suits him yet again! He sparkles as the loverboy in the first half, and your heart yearns for his situation in the second! He is so effective that finding a fault with his performance is akin to looking for logic in a David Dhawan film.
Many things [good] have been said about Kajol in the movie and I support that. Coming back after a hiatus of 4 1/2 years, she gets into the skin of the character and delivers a subdued performance! If you can relate to her awakening in the first half, it’s only because of her portrayal of Zooni! It wouldn’t be wrong to state that Fanaa ranks among one of her most mature performances!
Apart from the lead actors, the child artist (In the end credits, I found out that his name was Ali) is just lovable. He’s damn cute, and all his dialogues in English are sure to make you fall in love with him. Rishi Kapoor does well and comes out with a charming performance, but Kirron Kher hardly gets any scope. Shruti Seth entertains as Kajol’s friend, but Vrajesh Hirjee could’ve been utilized more!
The tradition of having a special appearances continue with the no-use-of characters of Lara Dutta and Shiny Ahuja. Infact, the Lara Dutta scene should entirely be deleted as it unnecessarily adds to the length of the film.
Music, as I said, could’ve been better. Jatin-Lalit have not entirely done a bad job, but apart from ’Chand Sifarish’ and ’Chanda Chamke’, both of which come at an appropriate stage, there is nothing much to rave about!
Dialogues [Kunal Kohli] are one of the major highlights. The sher-o-shayaris [a few of them are SMS copies though!] are fun to watch and even otherwise, they never get preachy. Ravi Chandran’s cinematography deserves a special mention. The locales of Poland are captured on the celluloid to perfection! Art direction is top-notch, and action scenes, well-composed! The film, however, needs to be trimmed [Ritesh Soni] by atleast 10 minutes overall, to make the impact more crisper. Dileep’s background score is commendable!
Overall
As Prasiddha told me, I ended up liking the movie because I had zero expectations from the film. And also because I got a wonderful seat in the cineplex! So though this review came pretty late in the day [the film is 6-days old now], Fanaa is a good one-time watch for all. After Yashraj has tried something different here, I hope he makes a film without the hype of superstars as I really felt that newcomers would do their bit in this movie as well.
Anyone for Ghoom this Friday??
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2006.
